Most scientists are now certain that global warming is taking place. Gases such as carbon dioxide produced by burning of coal, oil, wood, together with industrial pollution, are creating a warm blanket around the earth. This blanket is trapping heat in the atmosphere and so raising the temperature of the earth.
The evidence for global warming can now be seen in the world’s changing climate statistics. In Europe, eight of the last ten years have seen record high temperature. For northern Europe, this has generally been a change for the better. Gardens can even now grow tropical plants in England, though London may never see a “White Christmas” again. On the other hand, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea, and those south of the Sahara desert are receiving even less rain than before. In sub-Saharan Africa the crops are drying out in the fields and people are dying of starvation. In the Americas, the climate is becoming more extreme ---the summers are getting hotter and hotter and the storms are becoming more violent. In 1999 the southern United States was struck by a series of destructive hurricanes, while the end of 1999 saw the worst floods ever in Venezuela. Meteorologists expect such trends to continue, and indeed to worsen, if global warming cannot be halted(终止).
In addition to worrying about rising global temperatures and more extreme weather conditions, scientists are closely monitoring sea levels around the world. These are slowly rising, as the northern and southern polar ice-caps start to melt. This will have serious consequences for low-lying countries near the sea, such as the coral islands in the Pacific, and Bangladesh where the River Ganges already folds the delta(三角洲) every year. Already parts of these places are disappearing under the rising tides.
Title: Global Warming
| Main items | Contexts |
| _____1____ | Gases from burning coal, oil, and wood with industrial pollution. |
|
_____2____ | In European countries; Record high temperature in the last ____3__. |
| In the countries around the Mediterranean Sea; It is __4_____ less than before. | |
| In Sub-Saharan Africa; The crops are drying out in the fields and people are ___5____ to death. | |
| In Americas; ___6____ hot summers. More __7____ storms and worst floods. | |
| ____8______ | ___9____earth temperature |
| ____10___ polar ice-caps |